Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Business Administration

Committee Chair

Subhash Jha

Committee Member

Alexander Pratt

Committee Member

George Deitz

Committee Member

Rahul Pandey

Abstract

The dissertation comprises three essays that examine the role of mortality salience in consumer behavior. Understanding the structure of knowledge, foundational research, and emerging topics in the existing literature are essential for developing a research program within this field. The first essay establishes a body of knowledge on mortality salience in the field of consumer research. It employs a bibliometric analysis of 237 journal articles published between 1979 and 2025 that relate to mortality salience and consumer behavior. Performance analysis offers insights into key research work and the researchers involved. The science mapping method, specifically co-citation analysis, highlights foundational research and concepts. Co-occurrence analysis identifies prominent research questions in the literature for future research, while bibliographic coupling uncovers broader themes of research possible within the domain. Lastly, thematic mapping of the literature is plotted based on relevance and frequency of the research themes provides insights into future research directions. Research on mortality salience is based on terror management theory. Consumers use self-esteem to buffer against death anxiety caused by mortality salience. Self-determination theory indicates that autonomy and competence are motivators that enhance self-view and are reflected in increased materialism. It was proposed that the interaction between mortality salience and self-brand connection affects attitudinal (trust), behavioral (purchase intention and positive word-of-mouth), and strategic (brand equity) outcomes for brands. Using the multiple regression ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation technique, hypotheses were tested. The results revealed a positive relationship between the interaction of mortality salience and self-brand connection and brand trust, purchase intention, positive word-of-mouth, and consumer-based brand equity. Existing consumer research offers limited insights into how mortality salience and self-brand connection influence consumer choices, as well as the mechanisms behind this effect. It was hypothesized that self-brand connection positively moderates the impact of mortality salience on consumer-related outcomes. Through three experiments, the relationship observed in Essay Two was replicated, and psychological ownership was identified as the mediator explaining this relationship. The indirect effect was ruled out via personal control, internal locus of control, and essentialist beliefs. The analysis revealed that self-brand connection has a positive moderating effect on the causal relationship between mortality salience and brand quality, willingness to pay, recommendation intention, and purchase intention.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.

Notes

Embargoed until 08-04-2027

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Available for download on Wednesday, August 04, 2027

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